HERE’S AN UNLIKELY recall winner: George Schwartzman. The San Diego businessman ran as an independent on Tuesday’s ballot, wanting to ban cookies and soda pop from public school vending machines (child obesity is, ahem, a growing concern in California). What makes Schwartzman notable? He finished ninth in the race to replace Gray Davis–undoubtedly because the first six letters of his last name coincide with that of the governor-elect’s. Let us give thanks that Tom Arnold and Arnold Ziffel sat this one out. On the day after recall, Arnold Schwarzenegger’s mandate grew clearer. In a 161-candidate field (135 names on the ballot, plus 26 write-ins), he collected more votes than either the “no”-on-recall effort or Davis’s winning plurality in November 2002. Arnold carried 50 of 58 counties, 36 of them by a majority vote. The only region where the running man ran afoul? You guessed it, the Bay Area, where Arnold pulled down an anemic 33 percent.

So, naturally, California Democrats have figured out the scope of their setback and plan to honor the public’s will and help Schwarzenegger get on with the business, right? Well, that all depends on who’s doing the talking for the suddenly rudderless party. Arnold, it seems, did more than pancake his opposition. He’s managed to divide the Democrats into at least four groups of very unhappy campers.